Timbers offense struggles for goals as they play Montreal Impact to 1 all draw

It seemed like the Timbers had truly broken out early to put the Impact in a deficit with a Jack McInerney header in the 14th minute, but the offense stalled for the most part since the goal. While the defense was strong at points, they conceded a goal just before the half as the teams played to a 1 all draw.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

When the original schedule announcement hit back in January, I pointed to this stretch of matches in July as one of the more brutal
sequences the Portland Timbers would have to face without even knowing when
U.S. Open Cup matches or other competitions would hit the calendar. Starting with a July 4 date in Colorado
followed by a cross country trip to New York with the Red Bulls, then a quick
turnaround for three home matches in 10 days - July 13 versus a physical
Montreal Impact side, then a rivalry match with the Seattle Sounders on July 17
followed by an afternoon date with the Los Angeles Galaxy on July 23, the
sequence would test the mental and physical acumen of any club. After securing points on scoreless draws
versus the Rapids and Red Bulls, the Timbers were hoping to keep the momentum going
versus the Impact despite various injuries and suspensions that kept their
available player pool light. It appeared
they had a strong start with an early goal from Jack McInerney, but a potential
goal from Fanendo Adi was waived off in the 34th minute and Montreal
leveled with a box to box run from Ignacio Piatti just before the first half
break that wasn't without its own controversy.
Despite some close calls in the second half, the teams ended up drawn at
1 to extend the Timbers' unbeaten streak to 8. While this continues some of the momentum
Portland has gained in this stretch, this match had opportunities for the
Timbers to pull out a win and this result could be one that they might rue in a
close race for the playoffs.

Portland would be
without their duo of Diegos for differing reasons - Chara was unavailable due
to an accumulation suspension after receiving a yellow card versus New York to
push him to the magic number of 5, while Valeri was still dealing with an ankle
contusion suffered in the U.S. Open Cup loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy. With Darren Mattocks also out for 10 weeks due to a hamstring injury and Dairon Asprilla out on loan, Portland was extremely thin with
options after playing in New York and the Sounders match lurking just 4 days
from now. Jake Gleeson would again get
the call in goal for his 13th consecutive start, but he would have
an experienced defensive line available in front of him with Alvas Powell and
Zarek Valentin manning the fullback position and Nat Borchers and Liam
Ridgewell as the center backs. Deciding
to go more traditional in the midfield, Timbers Coach Caleb Porter would employ
4 midfielders and 2 forwards, and put Ben Zemanski and Jack Jewsbury in the
central midfield. With Valeri out, the
creativity would fall upon Darlington Nagbe to the right and Lucas Melano on
the left with Adi and McInerney as the strikers. Reserve wise, Porter had a few available
options with Taylor Peay, Jermaine Taylor and Amobi Okugo on defense, Ned
Grabavoy and Jack Barmby in the midfield, Wade Hamilton in goal and Neco Brett
as the forward. With the quick turnaround, it would be important for this group
to not only create offense where they could and defend all over the pitch, they
would have to play as much of possible.

One of the biggest controversies of the match was in the 18th minute when Impact midfielder Ignacio Piatti slid into the legs of Timbers defender Alvas Powell from behind and hit the ankles. While Powell was able to stay in the match, Chapman judged the play to be worthy of a caution only to admit after the match it should have been an ejection. Piatti went on to score the leveling goal just before the half.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

Montreal was on short
rest as well as they had played on July 9 versus Real Salt Lake after defeating
New England at home back on July 2. The
draw in RSL helped their case in the bunched up Eastern Conference, but Impact
Coach Mauro Bello would have to concoct a plan versus the Timbers that didn't
involve famed striker Didier Drogba, who traditionally doesn't play on turf
fields. Montreal did bring their leading
scorer in Piatti plus midfield weapons in Harrison Shipp and Lucas Ontivero
with Johan Vanegas up top. Fabled scorer
Dominic Oduro would be available off the bench, but for the Impact, it would be
important to have holding midfielders Kyle Bekker and Patrice Bernier control
the middle of the pitch, while experienced center backs Laurent Ciman and
Wandrille Lefevre would need to hold their line front of keeper Evan Bush. With the unbalanced schedule employed by MLS,
the Impact hadn't been in Portland since March 2013, and the team was making
only their second visit to Portland in the MLS era. However, longtime Timbers fans from the USL
era remember the Impact and Timbers staging several legendary matches during
their years of battling between 2001 and 2010 until Portland joined MLS in
2011.

First Half Highlights: The first half highlights really boil down to four plays in particular -
a Piatti tackle on Alvas Powell in the 18th minute, the goal by
McInerney off a corner kick in the 14th, the disallowed goal to Adi
in the 34th minute and the Piatti tally in the 44th
minute. After sustained pressure to
start the half, it was a foul on Ontivero in the 13th falling on
Nagbe's legs that started the sequence.
Nagbe nearly found Ridgewell with the free kick, but the ball was
deflected to Melano and his shot was blocked out for a corner. With Jewsbury taking the corners, he found
J-Mac in the middle of the box with Bush drifting to the right post for some
reason, and McInerney did the rest with a lovely header. Minutes later, the Timbers were clearing the
ball out of their end with Powell when Piatti executed a slide tackle from
behind to take Powell down near his ankles.
Chapman, the official who gave Galaxy defender Nigel De Jong a caution
for his powerful tackle on Nagbe earlier this season, gave Piatti a caution,
but admitted after the match upon seeing replay that Piatti should have been
ejected - and I agreed once I saw the replay.
The fortunes for the Timbers continued with several shots, but when
Zemanski put in a chip pass to Adi in the 34th minute and the
Timbers forward headed it home, it seemed the Timbers were on easy street. However, Chapman called Adi for a foul in extending
his arm to waive off the goal, and that event seemed to give life to the
Impact. Just before the break, the
Impact played a long ball for Piatti after Melano and Impact defender Hassoun Camara
collided near the Impact box, but Piatti was able to get clear. After Borchers briefly deflected the ball up
outside the Timbers box, Piatti beat a loafing Powell to the ball and slotted a
shot past a stunned Gleeson to level the score.
Replays do show that Piatti extended his arm and the ball might have hit
his arm in the dribbling sequence, but Chapman didn't call any of it as the
Timbers appeared stunned by the situation.

Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson makes a catch in traffic versus Montreal. Gleeson made several saves in the second half to preserve the result, helping the Timbers move their unbeaten streak to 8 matchesJennifer Kesgard, community blogger

First Half Analysis: There was much to be pleased about for the Timbers defensively outside
of the late Piatti goal, as Portland was holding the Impact offense to a
handful of shots by limiting the tempo until the Adi goal was waived off. Montreal ratcheted up the pressure late in
the half with Piatti, Vanegas and Ontivero, but they were only able to get
their goal off a wonderful albeit lucky run from Piatti. For me, Powell should have done more to
defend there but he didn't match Piatti's run until late, and wasn't in a
position to recover until very late while Borchers did his best to deflect the
ball away. Offensively, the Timbers were
creating chances mostly for Adi and Nagbe, but Melano was starting to find some
space to work and the Impact were basically letting Powell blast forward
anytime he wanted to. The chances were
certainly appearing, but the Timbers would need to execute slightly better in
the second half to avoid their third consecutive draw.

Second Half Highlights: Despite the best efforts of the Timbers, they weren't able to add to
their goal scoring although it certainly wasn't without some effort - although
as the match wore on, it was apparent the Timbers were struggling with their
legs as the Impact dominated the action over the last 20 minutes or so. Zemanski challenged Bush with a missile in
the 49th minute off a cross from Melano, but Nagbe couldn't find the
rebound. Ciman collided with Adi minutes
later, and while the Timbers forward was able to get back up, Ciman took
several minutes to recover from the encounter and he eventually left the match
after trying his best to remain. Adi and Camara collided at the left corner of
the Impact box in the 57th minute to give the Timbers a free kick
just outside the area, but McInerney couldn't pull the ball on target after
Nagbe deferred. Gleeson was forced to
swat away a Piatti shot after Powell made a horrible back pass in the 63rd
minute, and the young keeper made several other big saves down the stretch to
keep the match where it was. Melano had two deflected efforts in the 66th
minute and Ridgewell put a header on target in the 76th minute off a
corner from Jewsbury, but the tired Timbers soon found themselves on the back
feet mostly in the final moments. Porter
decided not to substitute until very late when Barmby replaced McInerney in the
84th and Ned Grabavoy came on for Zemanski right as stoppage time
started. Oduro came on late for
Montreal, but he wasn't able to give a boost to his side as the score remained
drawn at 1.

Timbers forward Fanendo Adi thought he had given his team a 2 goal lead in the 34th minute when he took a Zarek Valentin cross and headed it into the goal. However, Center Official Allen Chapman judged Adi had fouled Wandrille Lefevre in creating the space to shoot.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

Second Half Analysis: Porter said that he waited to sub until the very last minute because his
options to bring on were limited, and he felt of the players available, this
was the best possible group to score goals.
While there were opportunities - I actually thought McInerney was a very
solid distributor when the Timbers did pass around the box, and Nagbe was very
good box to box - the Timbers just didn't get too many situations where they
made the right final pass or shot.
Defensively, there were a few mistakes on the evening, but Montreal was
only able to capitalize on one of them - a poor bit of marking by Powell to not
get back and help with Piatti until the last moment after he drove by.

Final Thoughts: On the plus side, the Timbers continue their unbeaten streak, they
didn't lose anybody else to injury, and reinforcements are coming for the
weekend. On the downside, this result
could be one much like the draw in Colorado - a very winnable match that
Portland had chances to take the full three points, but they weren't able to
take advantage of the chances. The
situation is much better for this weekend knowing they will definitely have
Chara back for Sunday's Cascadia Cup battle; the chances of Valeri making a
return are still up in the air, but my thought is that if he'll do whatever he
can to be available for the rivalry battle.

The Timbers didn't play that badly overall, but they made too many mistakes at key points and didn't take advantage of chances when they showed up. They'll need to ratchet things up with a certain rival side visiting this weekend.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

Evaluations: With the big match forthcoming, I wanted to do a brief set of
evaluations instead of a lengthy post. For me, the men of the match for
Portland would be Gleeson for several saves and great composure in goal and
Nagbe for his tireless work between the boxes and I would give each an 8. McInerney
would receive a 7 because he was more active, had some good passes in traffic,
got the one goal on the evening, and barely missed on another off a free kick. The
next tier of players would be Borchers, Ridgewell, Zemanski, Adi and Valentin
with a 6 - all did reasonably well with covering their assignments and creating
shots. Melano, Grabavoy, Jewsbury and Barmby would receive 5's for their work -
nothing terrible for the evening and they held up on the offense with only
minor issues or a limited time to influence the action. The lowest mark of the evening would go to
Powell with a 3; while he had several great tackles and some good defense at
times, a defensive error nearly cost the team a goal and his crossing from the
wing was too erratic to help the offense despite Montreal giving him all the
space he could desire.